Public finances and external accounts

A fiscal surplus of 0.7 % of GDP

Republic of the Congo: in 2025, the general government collected 0.7 % of GDP more than it spent, public debt stood at 100.4 % of GDP, the current account showed a deficit of 5.1 % (IMF).

Fiscal balance · 2025: +0.7 %; of GDP · +1.9 pt since 2020
Public debt · 2025: 100.4 %; of GDP · −9.6 pt since 2020
Current account · 2025: −5.1 %; of GDP · −18.6 pt since 2020

Fiscal balance, % of GDP

Negative: a deficit · dashed: estimates and projections

Chart data as a table

Republic of the Congo: in 2025, the general government collected 0.7 % of GDP more than it spent, public debt stood at 100.4 % of GDP, the current account showed a deficit of 5.1 % (IMF).
Year	Republic of the Congo	Central Africa
2015	−17.0 %	−4.8 %
2016	−14.5 %	−4.8 %
2017	−5.6 %	−2.1 %
2018	+5.2 %	−0.5 %
2019	+4.4 %	−1.4 %
2020	−1.2 %	−2.3 %
2021	+1.6 %	−1.5 %
2022	+8.0 %	+0.9 %
2023	+5.5 %	−0.3 %
2024	+3.5 %	−1.5 %
2025 · estimate	+0.7 %	−2.8 %
2026 · projection	+5.2 %	−2.4 %
2027 · projection	+5.2 %	−2.1 %
2028 · projection	+4.5 %	−1.9 %
2029 · projection	+4.0 %	−2.0 %
2030 · projection	+4.6 %	−1.9 %

Republic of the Congo
Central Africa

Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook (October 2026) · general government net lending or borrowing · group values weighted by GDP in dollars (Syli Atlas)

CEMAC convergence criteria

First-rank criteria in 2025

Reference fiscal balance ≥ −1.5 % of GDP not published by the IMF Not computed
Inflation ≤ 3 % 2.6 % Met
Public debt ≤ 70 % of GDP 100.4 % Not met

Syli Atlas calculation from IMF figures · thresholds: CEMAC multilateral surveillance framework (2016) · the reference fiscal balance is not published by the IMF

Currency

Central African CFA franc

Republic of the Congo shares the Central African CFA franc and its central bank, the BEAC, with the five other CEMAC countries: the policy rate and foreign exchange reserves are common. The franc is pegged to the euro.

Currency: XAF; Central African CFA franc
Exchange regime: Fixed; 1 EUR = 655.957 XAF
Inflation · 2025: 2.6 %; average annual change in consumer prices

Currency codes: ISO 4217 · fixed parities: central banks (BCEAO, BEAC, Central Bank of the Comoros, Bank of Cape Verde…) · inflation: IMF, World Economic Outlook (October 2026)

Debt

A debt owed first to multilateral lenders

At the end of 2025, Republic of the Congo owed 6.4 bn$ in public external debt (World Bank). 24.4 % of it was owed to China, 26.4 % to multilateral institutions and 16.6 % to bond holders.

Debt of the 54 countries →

Public debt · 2025: 100.4 %; of GDP · IMF
External debt · 2025: 7.7 bn$; public and private · World Bank
Public external debt · 2025: 6.4 bn$; owed or guaranteed by the State
Debt service · 2021: 6.3 %; of exports of goods, services and income

Risk of debt distress

IMF and World Bank debt sustainability analysis

Low Moderate High In debt distress

Latest analysis published on 2025-03-24: in debt distress. The country has unresolved arrears to external creditors.

Source: IMF, list of debt sustainability analyses of low-income countries, as of 2026-03-31 · imf.org

Public external debt by creditor

Share of the total at the end of each year

2015

2020

2025

Multilateral (IMF, World Bank, AfDB…): 26.4 %
China: 24.4 %
Other countries: 10.2 %
Bonds (Eurobonds): 16.6 %
Banks and other private lenders: 22.4 %

Source: World Bank, International Debt Statistics (updated 2026-11-05) · public and publicly guaranteed external debt, end of year · CC BY 4.0 · shares: Syli Atlas calculation

Republic of the Congo · Finances and debt